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In the middle of the last century, as the United States and Russia rapidly amassed thousands of nuclear weapons, China stayed out of the arms race, focusing its energy on growing its economy and broadening its regional influence. Beijing did build hundreds of nuclear weapons during those years, but the nation’s leaders insisted their modest arsenal was merely for self-defense. Since China’s first nuclear weapons test, in 1964, the country has pledged loudly to never go first in a nuclear conflict — no matter what. Now there is increasing unease in Washington about China’s nuclear ambitions. China’s transformation from a small nuclear power into an exponentially larger one is a historic shift, upending the delicate two-peer balance of the world’s nuclear weapons for the entirety of the atomic age.

Organizations: Pentagon Locations: United States, Russia, China, Beijing, Washington

With the ongoing war and suffering in Gaza, this year’s holy month of Ramadan has also been a painful one for Muslims around the world. In this audio essay, Times Opinion staff editor Meher Ahmad reflects on the support she has found during Ramadan in her Muslim community, and why she hopes other Muslims also reach out beyond that world of safety and understanding. (A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)

Persons: Ramadan, Meher Ahmad Locations: Gaza

Opinion SoleAuthority Forty-five feet underground in a command center near Omaha, there’s an encrypted communications line that goes directly to the American president. Buried below is a military command headquarters constructed in case of a missile attack amid a national emergency. Yet regardless of who wins this election, or the next one, the American president’s nuclear sole authority is a product of another era and must be revisited in our new nuclear age. The jet’s crew can contact the president, verify his or her identity and relay a nuclear attack order to bomber squadrons, submarines and intercontinental ballistic missile silos. It is, however, unacceptable for an American president to have the sole authority to launch a nuclear first strike without a requirement for consultation or consensus.

Persons: —, Anthony Cotton, Biden, Donald Trump, Harry Truman, Truman, Truman’s, Jake Sullivan, ” Mr, Sullivan, “, Richard Nixon, wasn’t, Trump, Henry Kissinger, Nixon, Mark Milley, Nancy Pelosi, Bob Woodward, Robert Costa, Kissinger, Milley, Robert Kehler, Stratcom, Kehler, we’ve, That’s Organizations: U.S . Strategic Command, North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, Joint Chiefs, Staff, American, White House, Strategic Command, White, North, Democrats, Chiefs, Air Force, Senate, U.S ., United Locations: United States, Omaha, U.S, America, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Soviet, North Korea, Trump’s

Donald Trump’s popularity has long baffled those opposed to him — he lost after his first presidential term, has been accused of sexual harassment and assault multiple times and faces 91 felony counts in four criminal cases. Despite this, he continues to captivate millions. In this audio essay, Anna Marks, an Opinion staff editor, argues that we have it all wrong — to understand Trump’s appeal, we need to see him not as a politician, but as a pop star. (A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication, and can be found in the audio player above.)

Persons: Donald Trump’s, —, Anna Marks

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